A robbery suspect managed to escape after barricading himself inside a 7-Eleven store in downtown Long Beach early Tuesday morning. The incident began around 2 a.m. when employees flagged down police after the suspect, who was armed, entered the store on Pine Avenue and Broadway. The employees were able to escape, but the suspect remained inside and refused to surrender, prompting a SWAT team response.
According to the Long Beach Police Department, officers closed several streets in the area, including Broadway from Pacific Avenue to Long Beach Boulevard and Pine Avenue from 1st Street to 3rd Street, to manage the situation. The standoff, which lasted approximately 12 hours, involved multiple police cars and a large armored SWAT vehicle. Efforts to coax the suspect out included the use of a robot and at least one flash-bang device, but these strategies did not succeed.
As reported by Hoodline, the standoff ended around 2 p.m. when SWAT officers entered the store with a search warrant, only to find it empty. Missing ceiling tiles in the storage room suggested the suspect may have escaped through the ceiling. The suspect, described only as a male adult, remains at large, and police have not reported any injuries to employees or passersby during the incident.
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